Day 13: Tsukiji, Hama Rikyu, Shiodome, Odaiba, and Ginza

Tsukiji

Daiwa Sushi

Started the day at Tsukiji fish market for breakfast, we weren't particularly interested in the tuna auction so just headed for the restaurants. Daiwa sushi was awesome and exactly the experience I'd hoped for!

Very tired, early start to get over to Tsukiji from where we were staying (Hanzomon) and then an hour long queue

Could have done with a little less wasabi especially at that time of day but it really was amazing sushi and great service. I would have gone for seconds of the fatty tuna if I wasnt so stuffed from the set meal and that's after getting Aaron to eat 2 of mine which were molluscy (sea urchin and squid, because I'm allergic to molluscs) The guy who was making our food and serving us was really nice and showed me how to eat sushi properly using chopsticks (more scoop than grab). He made each piece in front of us and as he made them he passed them straight over so nothing sat waiting it was as fresh as it could be.

Hama Rikyu & Shiodome

 

We walked to Hama Rikyu which was around the corner from Tsukiji. Hama Rikyu is a really pretty traditional Japanese landscaped garden. Loads of jumping fish in the ponds and a free audio guide thingy in English which was handy and I would definitely recommend using.

The cool thing about Hama Rikyu was the contrast of the gardens and nature against the backdrop of skyscrapers in Shiodome.

 

 

We then continued walking into Shiodome and went to the Panasonic Living Showroom where we got to play with clever fancy sinks and stuff. We concluded if we win the lottery we're getting all that stuff, including the toilet of course, imported!

Walking through Shiodome

 

From there it was to a Godiva cafe for a quick snack as we could both still taste breakfast hours later which just isn't cool, followed by a nosy around the Shinbashi railway museum (more interesting than it sounds although doesn't take very long) and then over to Odaiba.
 

Cool buildings reflected in cool buildings in Shiodome

 

Odaiba

The train to Odaiba goes over the rainbow bridge which is awesome in itself (cars pedestrians and trains all get out to the man made island via this bridge) and has good views. When we got there our first stop was the museum of emerging science which was a bit hit and miss but overall quite good, especially the robot demonstration and the submarine you could get into!

Museum of emerging science at the end of the pathway

Playing with the thermal imaging
camera in the museum

 

Then we went Decks to go to Sega Joypolis. This was both smaller than I expected, and more fun than I expected! We went on a weird indoor rollercoaster which was also part shooting game, and another ride which was a Tony Hawk halfpipe ride where you went on in a pair and had to work together to tilt your board at the right point to do spins, whilst basically on a giant standing up pirate ship type of thing. We also played our favourite drumming game, plus another game where you throw balls at the screen to vanquish legoey looking foes. It was also fun just watching local teens be absolutely awesome at mind bogglingly difficult games! 

Fuji TV building

Rainbow Bridge as seen from Odaiba, the orange pointy thing is Tokyo Tower

 

 

Ginza

Our final stop on our itinerary for the day was Ginza but we were absolutely shattered so we decided to make it a brief visit- dinner, a couple of shops, and then back to the hotel. One of the first restaurants we encountered there happened to be Hooters! Since discovering there was one near our Shibuya hotel Aaron had been determined to go to Japanese Hooters but then forgot all about it until we passed this one, so once he'd seen it we had to go in. It wasn't quite the kind of dinner I'd had in mind but Aaron enjoyed chicken that was actual chicken meat and not gristle, and I did quite enjoy being somewhere with a fully English menu. After dinner we had a look around Uniqlo's flagship store (which was massive!) and bought a couple of bits, and then called it a night. I can't say as I was sorry to have had such a rushed visit, I'm not much of a shopper and whilst it was fun having a look at all the high end shops there's only so much window shopping I have patience for really.

Next post: Day 14: Skytree, Asakusa, Rikugien, Lost in Translation